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| September 22, 2004 - Here is a story about my "napakacute" friend Gladys (picture left, far left). After an early morning Alay Lakad (walk for out of school youth), I said, "Pupunta ako sa iyong bahay." (I will go to your house) Students want to come to my house, not the other way around. Her answer surprised me, "Kuya lane, you come. What time will you come?" Oops. First, like a good Filipino, I gathered my kasamas (companions), Mourelle and Jericho. I like to visit my students at home because I learn more about them and their family. Gladys lives with her grandmother and grandfather and a whole bunch of other people (aunts, cousins, etc). | ||||||||||
| Her mother and father work in another city in the Philippines. This is not an uncommon circumstance for the children in my class. Jericho's mother works overseas and Mourelle lives with his grandparents. You might suspect that these children would have problems because of the absence of their parents. However, I have found that children in these situations are disciplined, good, kind and fun-loving. They do miss their parents and do not seem to have a good idea what their parents do or where they are. They do the best they can while growing up because they know their parents, wherever they are, are working for them. In many ways the children here are more mature than their peers in other places. But mostly, they are just really fun kids (picture below). | ||||||||||
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| Up above is the store in front of Gladys's house. Something should not look right to you. Her name is Gladys. She gets lots of teasing from me about that. | ||||||||||
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